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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  December 24, 2012 8:00am-9:00am PST

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you can see smoem is bill loeg. there are working flames on one of those homes over there. it appears as if multiple fire crews are over there now battli battling this fire. we saw a truck coming down lake road. there's a red fire truck coming towards those holmes. there's a chopper circling the scene right now. everyone just trying to get through this day, trying to piece this all together. everyone just trying to find answers. we're out here continuing to talk to neighbors who are shocked trying to get in touch with loved ones. we'll keep you posted. >> we're glad we got that report. that does it for me. "newsroom" continues now. i'm alina cho. topping our news. if you're hoping for a fiscal cliff averting, tax-reforming
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package all wrapped in a big red bow, better fire off a quick note to santa. a grand bargain isn't going to come by christmas or new year's when all sorts of tax increases and automatic spending cuts take effect. it may take up president obama's bare bones stopgap measure. that plan would block tax hikes for those earning $250,000. it would extend unemployment benefits to 2 million americans and put off spending cuts until the new year brings a new congress. our expert on all matters relating to the fiscal cliff is dana bash. she joins me now from washington. dana, great to see you again. tell me does even a band-aid approach work? >> it's going to be tough. this is all math. but it really has to do with the
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math with regard to votes. and democrats especially who i'm talking to in the senate which is probably where this will originate, the reality is that democrats don't hold a very big majority. her going to need to have a handful of republicans to cross party lines and vote with them on the whole concept of raising any taxes. especially what the president wants which is something that is raising taxes on all americans making more than $250,000. that's the senate. never mind the house, which of course, made clear to the house speaker that they won't even go for something that's a million dollars or more when it comes to tax increases. that was last week. >> dana, you were saying that when you were reporting on it when it was breaking that evening, you called that devastating for john boehner. now that house republicans have clearly rebelled against john
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boehner, can the senate save the day? that's the big question? >> we will see what happens when the senate comes back on thursday. at least that's the plan right now, the house as well. it has to do with those votes. as far as i'm told, there are no discussions going on, no real talks about trying to find common ground or more specifically to find those votes. we did hear from some republicans over the weekend who -- you would be surprised they would say they'd vote for tax increases. johnny isaacson of georgia. we'll see. but the betting from democratic and republican sources at point is that we're likely to go over the fiscal cliff and there's a big political reason. once we go over the cliff, everybody's taxes go up. that's sporpt to remember. the way that lawmakers will be able to vote to change that is for a tax cut. now they are going to be voting
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for a tax hike of some sort. there's a very different political reality between those two votes. >> let's hope they meet in the middle, somebody that is to give between now and the end of the year, we hope. dana bash, thank you. we'll talk to you later. at half past the hour we'll check out the view of the fiscal cliff from hawaii. brianna keilar is traveling with the president. she's going to join us live. that's 25 minutes from now. u.s. senator michael crapo s says he's deeply sorry for driving under the influence of alcohol. the republican who is also a mormon was pulled over, tested and arrested after running a red light early yesterday morning in virginia. he says he made a mistake and deal with whatever penalty he is given. the u.s. navy seals are again mourning the loss of one of their own. a military official tells cnn that commander job price died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. price was a commander officer of
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seal team 4, that's the unit with more than two dozen members that operates in central afghanistan. the official says there's no indication at this point that price was under any investigation or involved in any controversies. former republican senator chuck hagel has not been nominated as defense secretary, but members of his own party already signaling an uphill confirmation battle if he is. barbara star has more on in surprising backlash. good morning to you. i think a lot of people thought after susan rice's nomination for secretary of state went away and everybody thought, okay, here's john kerry. he's going to sail through the confirmation process. so is chuck hagel. i think a lot of people were surprised by this news. what happened? >> well, you know, in the classic washington case, people are asking the question, was hagel a trial balloon being floated that's already getting
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holes poked in it. not nominated yet, but all the chatter had been he was the front runner to be president obama's choice as secretary of defense. no announcement. the silence is deafening from the white house. but the opposition already mounting. a lot of criticism coming from both republicans and democrats about some of hagel's positions while he served in the senate. i have to tell you over the last several years he's been known as somewhat of an independent maverick. concerns about his position on iran, was he strong enough about iran being a terrorist state, about voting for sanctions against iran. but a lot of it folksing on his his position with israel. a remark he made back in 2007 about the "jewish lobby in washington." a lot of pro-israeli groups voting their concerns. i want to play you just now a
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bit of a commercial already running on television opposing hag hagel, even though he's not nominated. >> president obama says all options are on the table. hagel says military action is not a feasible option. president obama for secretary of defense chuck hagel is not a responsible option. >> but if the white house was thinking of nominating hagel because he was a republican, an independent, it would bring some bipartisan support to a second obama administration, over the weekend a very prominent independent voice offered their thoughts. have a listen. >> i would have some really serious questions to ask him. not just about israel, but to me, the most significant f a policy challenge for president obama and our country and the world in the next year or two is iran. and its nuclear weapons program.
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chuck hagel had had outlying votes on that. >> i don't think he'll get many republican votes. i like chuck, but his positions i didn't know all of them, are out of the mainstream and well to the left of the president. >> so this so-called hagel nomination that hasn't even happened yet, it's at least going to sit until well after the new year. no indication at this point of a nomination coming forth. that builds up a lot of time for some of his opponents to launch their attacks. >> i know there are other names floating out there in washington if he doesn't get the nomination. so barbara starr following the story for us, thank you. not fantasy... logistics. ups came in, analyzed our supply chain, inventory systems... ups? ups. not fantasy? who would have thought?
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newtown, connecticut, memorial sites where americans around the country have gathered to support each other and honor the victims of the school sho shooting will now become of a permanent memorial. newtown, connecticut, collectman joins me on the phone. she's leading the effort. thank you for joining us. tell me a little bit about this effort to preserve these memorials. what's the process and when will it begin? >> the process will begin probably later this week. the magnitude of the outpouring of sympathy and flowers and teddy bears and beautiful prayers and posters and signs is
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really overwhelming and very much valued and honored by our town. so we have decided that we would convert all of those items, those tributes into product that would be part of our permanent memorial. we don't know what the nature of that memorial will be or even where it will be located at this point, but we know we will be preserve all those items probably in the form of soil or in some related form if the product is inappropriate for soil, it might become a brick or something of substance that would be part of this permanent memorial that will be planned for some time in the near future. >> i think the images of those memorials are so powerful. particularly for so many people who can't get to newtown, connecticut. so comforting to see all of that. having said that, there are so
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many thousands of flowers, cards, teddy bears, trees, each probably having very special meaning. will you even try to keep them all and what will you do if you don't? >> we can't keep them all. the tributes that i'm speaking of specifically are the ones that have been located outside. so those can no longer be preser preserved, but we want to make them a part of our heartfelt sympathy and remembrance for those who lost their lives. so this was the best way we could think of to do that. we have had some weather situations here over the past couple days and many of the materials really would not be preservable in an appropriate form. so we think it's fitting that
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all of those kindnesses be part of the permanence of the offering for those who died. >> can you tell me a little bit more -- i know you're still working out and it's still early, but if you were to envision what you wanted the permanent memorial to look like, is it a museum, a park? have you spoken to people in newtown, what do they want? >> we have many, many, many wonderful ideas and concepts and suggestions that are pouring in from all over the world. and many of those elegant suggestions and meaningful suggestions are also coming from members of our community. i think the process here has to be to collect all of those wonderful ideas and then have a group of people that represent
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our community really look at those ideas and do some good thinking about what's right and fitting for our community and what is right and fitting for this event, understanding that it was young school children and school personnel who are so grievously hurt and the incident occurred on school property so there's clearly a connection with schooling and education. but there's also a great value in this community for e memorializing in terms of a park or a playful place, but also a place of quiet. so i think all of those ideas will be seriously considered and evaluated and a decision was made by a group of people that will be selected for that purpose. >> i wish you the best of luck. i think i speak for everyone around the country and around the world when i wish you a
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holiday season of healing and i wish you the best of luck as you preserve all of these memorials around newtown. thank you so much. >> i appreciate that so much. have a peace-filled holiday. >> thank you. please keep us posted on your progress. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing.
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and talking. people for better or for worse who captured the spotlight in 2012. so we asked you to decide, and we listened to you. here's brook baldwin with what you, the viewer, chose as the top ten most intriguing people of this year. >> number 10, supreme court justice john roberts. >> the united states supreme court in a major decision of 5-4 decision upholds the president's health care reform law. >> the deciding vote was cast by the chief justice himself. conservatives, stunned, liberals, thrilled. next, same-sex marriage. number 9, yahoo ceo marissa meyer. at 37, head of a major tech company, a ceo in a male-dominated field, pregnant.
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it's the baby part that became problematic, shall we say, when may yearier decided to take just a couple weeks for maternity leave. what message was she sending by not staying home longer with her baby? number 8, south korean rapper psy. say what you want, his dance style first discovered on youtube had had everyone going gangnam and we mean everyone. he was riding high in 2012, star performer in the most-watched y youtube video of all time. number.
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7, presidential candidate mitt romney. >> this election is over, but our principles endure. >> romney ran on his business credentials but it was his multiple gaffes during the campaign that analysts said sealed his fate. remember the 47% comments -- >> 47s we% who were with him. >> and this one. >> binders full of women. >> number 6, ex-cia director general david petraeus. >> breaking news regarding the chief of the cia. general david petraeus. >> can you talk with us please? >> the news was unexpected. the reason, shocking. petraeus, a retired four-star general, had quit his cia post and admitted he had cheated on his wife. petraeus's mistress was also his biographer, paula broadwell.
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>> and don't touch that remote. there's more. we're going to show you who you picked as the top five most intriguing people of 2012. that's coming up next right after the break. when you have diabetes...
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just before the break, we showed you five of the ten people who you the viewer picked as this year's most intriguing. stories filled with bright moments and of course, tragedy. here's brook baldwin with the top five people who made their mark, for better or for worse. >> number 5, super jumper felix baumgartn baumgartner. he did what no human has ever done, diving 24 miles from the edge of space, breaking the sound barrier along the way. >> i'm still the same guy. but as soon as you start traveling, people recognize my face. >> i was scared. i was a little bit scared. >> number 4, new jersey governor chris christie.
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>> the shores no longer exist. >> thank you for everything. >> the governor took charge when a superstorm ravaged his state. a romney backer, suddenly kr ll christie was on obama's arm. >> when you have responsibility for those folks, you don't give a damn about the politics of things. i could care less today. >> number 3, olympian gabbi douglas. >> the first to win gold in the individual all-around and team competitions at the same olympics. >> i wanted to inspire a nation. inspire a generation. >> she did just that.
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number 2, school-age activist malala yousufzai. she told about the brutality of her life. not yet a teenager, she dared to suggest girls not only deserve but have a right to an education. >> i would give my education if it is in home or school. >> the taliban hunted her down, shooting her in the neck and back. the attack outraged even hardened pakistanis and all around the world she quickly became an international symbol of good against evil. today she is recovering in england. number 1, president barack obama. >> tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual.
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>> after a long, and we mean long and bitter campaign, president obama won reelection in 2012. the president won the supreme court of stamp of approval for his health care reform program and made history with this statement. >> i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> as 2012 comes to a close, the president joined in grief with a community shocked by senseless violence. >> these tragedies must end. and to end them, we must change. >> brook baldwin, cnn, atlanta. >> president obama, also "time" magazine's person of the year. don't miss our top 10 special as cnn revisits the stories that captured our nation's attention. don lemon shares the biggest stories in crime, politics, money and even the most
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scandalous. the top 10 of 2012 is tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. eastern only on cnn.
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30 minutes after the hour. good news for anyone hitting the road for the holidays. gas prices have dropped by nearly 12 cents over the last two weeks. the average cost of a gallon of
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regular is now $3.26. that's according to the latest survey. alison kosik joins me now from the new york stock exchange where it's a shortened trading day. stock market closes at 1:00 eastern. >> exactly. stocks are trending lower because of the fiscal cliff negotiations. the dow is down 41 points. this follows the loss on friday. the way wall street sees it, unless there's a deal reached, this could be the trend for stocks in the short-term. even if there's a band-aid measure thrown together, wall street may see that more of a positive. it looks pretty bleak as far as the fiscal cliff goes. >> let's get back to gas prices. you would think a 93 million people traveling more than 50 miles for the holiday season that gas prices would go up. but they have consecutively gone down.
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what's the reason behind this and will it last? >> there are a few reasons. it's winter and the peak drive ing season is over. it's all about the law of supply and demand. supply is up so demand goes down. you see gas prices moving lower. but also because demand for gas is down because of the fiscal cliff. the big worries about the fiscal cliff and how that's going to affect the economy as a whole. you look at oil prices and they have barely moved since late october. oil prices are between $85 to $90 a barrel since late october. and when oil prices stabilize for a longer time, as they have been, it gives gas prices a better chance to stabilize as well. but you look at it broadly, though, the gas prices are not falling for the the right reason. we could go back into a recession and it's those concerns for a downturn in the economy that are actually pushing prices lower. >> all right. alison kosik, live from the new york stock exchange.
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thank you as always. the head of the national rifle association says to call him crazy for proposing more guns in schools. the nra's ceo wayne lapierre insists a ban on assault weapons won't prevent mass killings, which he blames on violent video games and the media. he says armed guns eed guards are the best way to prevent tragedies. >> if it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our school to protect our children, then call me crazy. i'll tell you what the american people, what they think it's crazy not to do it. >> and it's the end of an era for "newsweek" magazine. it's very last print e edition. the magazine will become a digital-only publication. this is a black and white photo and it's of the magazine's old
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new york headquarters. the 80-year-old "newsweek" fell victim to readers who moved online. in a statement, the editor said "we're making our last momentous change, embracing a digital medium that all our competitors one day will need to embrace. we are ahead of the curve." christmas is upon us and can the fiscal cliff be far behind? the short answer is no. before flying off to hawaii, president obama left behind a stopgap plan to, in his words, agree on what he agree on and leave the rest for later. our brianna keilar, lucky girl, traveling with the first family. she's in honolulu, hawaii. how much of a working holiday is this for the president or is it really up to congress at this point to do something in the next eight days?
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>> reporter: it's always a working holiday for president obama, but it's very much up to congress to do something here going into the new year. as of right now, this may surprise you, but there are basically no discussions going on. the white house, senate democrats, they are not in discussion with how republicans and senate republicans in any substantive way. that may seem troubling to you because in order to work out some sort of deal to make it through congress, all parties need to agree to something. but as of right now, they are not talking. all eyes now turning to the senate, which will reckoconvene thursday. harry reid has the task of trying to cobble something together that can get some republican support in the senate and also get some republican support in the house and make it through congress. that's a difficult task. the white house saying they want the threshold for income tax
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rates expiring to be $250,000 and above. they are back to their initial negotiating position. and so between that and the lack of discussions going on, you sort of understand why you're hearing from democrats and republicans this pessimism about going over the fiscal cliff. privately, that's all what we're hearing that it is a real possibility to go over the cliff, even though there's a possibility of still working out a deal. but this is a last-ditch effort for sure. >> it's incredible that privately they are also saying that. everyone thought once we get closer to the deadline, they are going to get it together, come up with some sort of deal. if this stopgap measure does actually pass before january 1st, is the president prepared to go back to d.c. and cut his vacation short? >> reporter: he is. officially he's supposed to be here through the new year, but it sounds like talking to the white house that it's not really a matter of if the president
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goes back to washington, d.c., it's a matter of when. if there is legislation to go through the senate, this is something that's it going to need president obama to be there twisting arms. he's the commander-in-chief, but when it comes to something like this, he may be the top lobbyer in chief so he'll need to be in washington for that role. >> in the meantime, try, i know it will be difficult, try to enjoy your assignment in honolu honolulu, hawaii. thank you for joining us. >> reporter: all right.
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welcome back.
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at least two firefighters are dead in upstate new york this morning. they were shot to death while trying to respond to a house fire. it happened in the town of webster, just east of rochester. this story developing and my colleague poppy harlow following the developments for us from our studios in new york. what's the latest? what do you know about what happened? >> it's pretty unbelievable and think about the timing. another shooting. it happened just before 6:00 a.m. eastern time. firefighters in webster, new york right on the lake front, responded to a typical house fire. they showed up and were immediately gunned down, shot at. two of those responding firefighters were actually killed. two more were wounded. what i can tell you is that one of the wounded firefighters actually got in their car and drove themselves to ambulances and was taken to an area hospital in rochester. the other one was taken to the hospital, transport ed there.
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i want you to take a listen to some sound we have from a press conference that happened at 9:45 a.m. eastern time. you'll hear the e details from police chief picking. take a listen. >> responding firefighters when they pulled up on the scene started receive -- were fired upon by one or more shooters. four of the firefighters were shot, two are deceased, two were transported to area hospitals. it's still an active crime scene e. we have firefighters there at the location. it took awhile for to make it safe. we have firefighters there putting out the fires. it's an active crime scene e. >> you heard him say it's still an active crime scene. what exacerbated the problem was the fact that as soon as the shot wrs fired, the firefighters had to retreat. so the fires kept burning for hours with no one to put them out.
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as of 10:00 a.m. eastern, three houses on fire. the two officers, the two firefighters that made it through are both in area hospitals. one is in stable condition, one is guarded condition. the condition is in intensive care and is being watched very, very closely. governor cuomo just out with a statement saying all our thoughts and prayers go to the friends and family of those who were killed in this senseless violence. >> this is awful and devastating, but the day before christmas, just so tragic. having said that, it's just also confusing. i know it's still developing. is there any indication as to who might have perpetrated this act? >> that's the question. we have no information on the shooters. what we do know coming from the police chief there is that authorities have people in custody that they believe have knowledge of the ambush.
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so they have people in custody they are questioning. that's all we know. i want you to take a listen to some sound. it came from a neighbor that's lived in this area his entire life. >> i've lived here my entire life. you never imagine something like that happening so close to home. i just thinking firemen going in to help a situation out and this type of outcome where now they are going to have the holidays, their family is not going to have them there. it's devastating. i would never think this would happen here. >> we are expecting an update from the fire marshall there. he's going to speak any minute now. there's going to a press conference at the hospital. we'll bring you the latest. >> you will be on top of it. two firefighters shot and killed while responding to a fire in upstate new york. want to move on to the civil war in syria.
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an air raid today targeting a bakery. a bakery. killed nine people including six children. this marks the second attack on hunn hungary civilians in as many days. 100 people who had gone without bread for about a week were killed sunday as they lined up at another bakery. that death toll is expected to climb. the syrian government said they had nothing to do with the attac attacks. they blame terrorists. what do americans think of the war in syria? according to a new poll, most are concerned but not enough for direct u.s. involvement. take a look at this. our numbers show that 34% are very concern ed about the situation in syria. just 46% somewhat concerned. but the majority of americans, 52%, oppose the u.s. and other countries using force to establish safe zones for opposition forces. other international headlines to tell you about
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today, we expect to find out the official results of egypt's constitutional referendum vote. unofficial results of the second round published by state-run media show a commanding 64% of egyptians approved the new constitution drafted by an assembly dominated by the muslim brotherhood. several cases have already been filed in the courts to challenge that vote. check out these photos from one of the most luxurious auctions of the year. they sold off thousands of treasures confiscated from former president ben ali who went into exile two years ago. look at that jewelry. items for sale, more than 30 high-end cars. you see the jewelry there. also rare art. a stuffed jaguar among the things sold. and even dvds like "mr. and mrs. smith" starring brad pitt. did we mention it is all for a good cause? the funds raised will assist
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social programs in tanesia. remember the rocket launch in south korea? it had the capability of traveling 6,000 miles. that means woun could reach the united states. that's according to officials with south korea's defense ministry based on a part they recovered from one of the rocket's boosters. u.s. defense secretary leon panetta said that he's confident if north korea were to ever launch a missile at the united states, the u.s. military could guard against it. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth.
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you can't think of that it perfect christmas gift for that special nern your life? don't panic. there's still time. it's only christmas eve. lo lori seigel is here to help. we have to clue our viewers in. let's talk about these gloves. >> they are inspector gadget like. imagine being able to completely replace your phone with your glove. you can take a phone call like going this. it's easier for me to show you. take a look come in from think geek. take a look at the demo. >> in the thumb you have a speaker, and in the pinky you have a balloucmicrophone.
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you can do the call me gesture and you can call that way. >> this is strange. i hear your voice from my thumb right now. it's the kind of gadget for someone like wow, i can't believe this actually exists. >> yeah. i mean, why would you want to walk around with a pair of gloves that look like that? >> i don't know. okay. >> so alarm clock. roving alarm clock. this is something that do come in handy for me this week waking up at 3:00 in the morning. >> this is your best friend and worst enemy. this is clocky the rolling alarm clock. it's $45. you can buy it on fab.com. it runs away as you try to turn it over. you hear it go off, and you try it to press the snooze button. clocky has wheels and it runs around all the time. by the time you get to clocky and turn it off, generally you're away at that point.
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a good and bad mood. i tried it out. you're definitely awakawake. this is $45 and get at fab.com. it's popular sxlit weigand ligh. it's popular if you have people who have trouble getting up in the morning. >> that's me. so you have some blasts from the past items. i see this right here, which takes me back to my ms. pac-man days. what is it? >> for arcade lovers, you can turn your iphone into a miniature icade game. it works on bluetooth, so you can downpac-man and at the time tris and you can play with the touch screen and using the joystick right here. >> that's so cool. it's aawesome and cheap. they have it for the ipad 2. so it's a blast from the past for arcade lovers.
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it's on thinkgeek.com. >> this is something i've been meaning to get myself. a lot of people know what this is, but clue us in. >> for those who miss having a land line, you can attach it to your smartphone. i'm doing it right here. you can take calls the old school way, but with your smartphone. so we see a lot of pick this up. you can get it on amazon. this is $30 on fab. it's well designed by a french designer. >> it feels very rubbery. >> i can imagine us walking around with this. it's not the high th-tech glove but it's cool. >> thanks so much. merry christmas. most people are content to put up a nice, tasteful christmas tree. that wasn't good enough for one homeowner. his bold holiday statement raised the roof. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> maybe if this homeowner had measured better his christmas
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tree wouldn't have burst through the roof. >> that's crazy, right? >> what's crazy is how crazy everyone is about this christmas tree stunt that doesn't stump anyfor more than a few seconds. >> we baud a 14-foot tree. >> he plunked it on a playwood platform on the room and arranged shingles around. your house is proof that the price of trees has gone through the roof. seattle architect patrick kruger has been a huge fan of the movie "christmas vacation" in which the main character, clark griswold is obsessed with the perfect tree. >> there it is. >> dad, that thing wouldn't fit in your yard. >> it's going in our living room. >> that's kind of what patrick did. his license plate even paying homage to the christmas fixated
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griswolds. the first free on the roof had a problem your average living room tree doesn't, it blew off. the plywood platform it's on had to be bolted down. true, this is not a new concept. in england and in lincolnwood, illinois, there are grander versions of the same joke with the tree cut in three. >> it's better than this one? >> yours has a charlie brown aspect to it. >> i think it needs me. >> what patrick needs and has is a christmas tree as well as a plump regular one with a star that grazed the ceiling rather than pierces it. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> would have fooled me. jeanne moos always on the lookout for the odd and unusual. thanks. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds.
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welcome back. aaa estimates a little more than 93 million of you will travel from now until new year's. if you're one of those flying or driving today, weather conditions look pretty good. tomorrow could be a vastly different story,s specially across the south. alexander steele is in the cnn weather center with a look at the forecast. what's it looking like out there? >> it's a mess. all right. take a look. this is what's happening currently in the eastern third of the country. look at this.
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from washington through the mid-atlantic through the deal south, rain very heavy at times and thunderstorms. this is the opening act. we'll see a whole different scenario. the big show is still well to the west. this will transpire during the next couple of days. we have a rare and robust storm getting its act together. so 2:00 today here's what's happening. through the wasatch it's snow and watch what happens. through today and tonight that moves into the colorado rockies. by tomorrow morning, oklahoma city 5 to 8 inches of snow with this, which is incredibly rare. into the deep south for christmas we have heavy rain and a tornado event looks as though it could be brewing. not just an isolated evented. it looks like we could see severe storms in the southeast. by wednesday it moving up the coast and gets into the mid-atlantic and by thursday into northern new england. so this is quite rare as i said, so who will see a wet and white christmas? it wil r